Nine Australian umpires have been promoted to higher positions at international and domestic level following the release today of the Australian Cricket Board's (ACB) list of contracted officials for the next 12 months.

The 2002 Institute Challenge begins in Darwin next week (25-30 August) with six teams from state institutes of sport set to contest a round-robin series of one-day matches.

Australian Cricket Board (ACB) Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland today announced that 16 umpires have been added to the list of ACB-contracted officials for the next 12 months.